Published: Thursday, 8th May, 2008 09:00
Delighted or depressed? Ask Doyle
By Anthony Smith
Comments (0)
Print Article
All to play for: Kevin Doyle is ready to accept Reading's fate following Sunday's crucial clash at Derby County.
KEVIN Doyle will be reaching for the bubbly - or the Prozac - depending on the outcome of Sunday’s nail-biter at Derby County.
Reading’s fate will be decided at Pride Park where they realistically must win to have any hope of staying up.
It is a new challenge for Doyle who has known nothing but success in his three years with the club.
The Republic if Ireland striker admitted: “It’s massive. Obviously it’s come down to this. We’ve been saying all along that we will be fine but now it’s the last game and it’s not even in our hands so we have to win and hope Fulham don’t.
“It’s all or nothing on Sunday and we will either be very happy this time next week or very depressed.”
The pressures on the Royals to secure a victory are enormous. Their top-flight survival will depend on whether they can handle the nerves better than Fulham, who travel to FA Cup finalists Portsmouth.
And Doyle, 24, insisted: “We all still believe we can get out of it. If we win and Fulham don’t we are safe. It’s one game and it’s all to play for.
“Fulham have an extremely tough game at Portsmouth. They are getting ready for the FA Cup final and they’ll be wanting to finish the season strongly. It won’t be just an end of season game for them.”
Unfortunately, the same could be said of relegated Derby who, despite being the worst team in Premier League history, will be desperate to bow out on a high and reward their loyal fans with a decent performance.
“It’s the last home game of the season for them and they definitely know they won’t be in the Premier League next season,” explained Doyle.
“There is no pressure on them, they can just go out and play their football whereas for us it’s a massive, massive game.
“But there is no two ways about it, on form and results, if there is any team you want to play in the last game of the season it is Derby. There will be no excuses if we don’t perform on the day.”
The Royals were given a brutal lesson in what can happen when a team plays with freedom last weekend when they lost 1-0 to mid-table Tottenham.
The north Londoners appeared to have little to play for but could easily have won by a bigger margin.
Perhaps the main worry for Coppell is his side rarely looked like ending their nine hour 11 minute goal-drought until Dave Kitson and Liam Rosenior went close near the end.
No-one has suffered more than Doyle who has failed to score in his last 20 Premier League games, though he did get the only goal in a 1-0 home win against Derby in October.
“Spurs scored and then had a second disallowed which probably wasn’t offside so we got away with that,” he admitted.
“We were better in the second-half and we’ve been like that this season. We don’t seem to get anywhere with it.
“We had a bit of possession and got in and around their penalty area but didn’t look like scoring. That’s happened a lot this season and we can’t quite put our finger on why.”
Fulham’s crucial victory over Birmingham last weekend saw them climb out of the bottom three for the first time since December.
The Royals, on the other hand, slipped back into the relegation zone and Doyle argued: “We’ve been just out of it all along but now we’re in the bottom three and it’s now up to us so the pressure is probably off us a bit.
“We just know we have to win and hope someone else messes up. Fulham have gone from thinking they are nearly relegated to feeling they might be nearly safe. Maybe that will affect their mindset and help us.”
Doyle’s decision to play on through a recent family tragedy is typical of his commitment to the Royals’ cause.
However, the same cannot be said of team-mates Emerse Fae and Ibrahima Sonko who were banned from the club for two weeks and fined a fortnight’s wages for refusing to play for the reserves.
Yet Doyle insists the mood in the training camp has been positive this week. “It’s been sunny and a few people were happy to see that,” said the ex-Cork City player.
“But they realise what it’s all about. Everyone is quiet and focused, thinking about what could happen on Sunday.
“We’re all concentrating on giving it everything to be right for Derby and do what is needed.
“All the loan players are back so there are some fresh faces around. Hopefully they’ll bring some fun to the training ground and a bit of change.”
Further Details
